Leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia hold peace talks in Abu Dhabi

Meeting follows separate talks with President Sheikh Mohamed

Peace talks between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia took place in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

The meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was confirmed by their respective governments. It comes after the two nations agreed to a draft peace deal in March.

Mr Aliyev shared pictures of the meeting on X, in which the two leaders are seen shaking hands.

The Azerbaijani government had on Wednesday issued a statement confirming the talks would talk place in Abu Dhabi, "within the framework of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process".

The Armenian government shared a press release after the meeting, saying the parties had discussed " various aspects of the agenda" for establishing Armenia-Azerbaijan relations.

The statement said both sides had agreed to continue bilateral negotiations and "confidence-building measures".

Both leaders thanked President Sheikh Mohamed for his warm hospitality and for organising the meeting. Sheikh Mohamed said the decision to hold the talks in the UAE emphasised that the country is trusted as a supporter of peace and diplomatic solutions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

He stressed that the UAE supports all efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Caucasus region, as well as ensuring prosperity for Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to President, described the talks as a “positive step towards lasting peace between the two neighbours”. He added in his post on X that the UAE hosting the talks highlighted the country’s role “in building bridges and prioritising diplomacy, within a vision that places peace, stability and regional prosperity at its core”.

Long-standing tension

For more than three decades, Armenia and Azerbaijan have wrestled over the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region with a majority Armenian population that was assigned within Soviet Azerbaijan by the USSR in the 1920s.

They have fought two wars – in the 1990s and in 2020 – over the region, Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated enclave.

More than 6,500 people were killed in six weeks of fighting in the autumn of 2020. That ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire.

Under the deal, Armenia ceded parts of territory it had controlled for decades and Moscow sent about 2,000 peacekeepers to monitor the truce.

The two nations agreed to a draft peace deal in March, after Azerbaijan recaptured Karabakh in September 2023. The signing of the deal has yet to take place, Reuters reported.

"President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting with the participation of their delegations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates," said the office of Mr Aliyev.

The meeting was also reported by state media in Azerbaijan.

The contested region Nagorno-Karabakh

The talks come a day after Sheikh Mohamed held talks in Abu Dhabi with Mr Pashinyan, as part of his working visit to the UAE.

"Our talks focused on deepening ties, especially in trade, investment and innovation," said Mr Pashinyan on X. "Armenia values its partnership with the UAE and is committed to advancing our shared goals."

Sheikh Mohamed stressed the UAE's support for reinforcing stability and security in the Caucasus region.

He also met Azerbaijan's President on Wednesday. The leaders discussed efforts to bolster bilateral ties in key sectors such as the economy, investment, food security, renewable energy and the environment, as part of Mr Aliyev's working visit to the Emirates.